Bollywood star Huma Qureshi essays her first biopic role as late chef and cookbook author Tarla Dalal in her upcoming film 'Tarla'.
The actress said she has grown up watching the late chef's show with her mother recreating many dishes from the cookbook. Speaking to Connected to India, she said she was “honoured and excited” to take on the part.
“The first call that I got was from Ashwiny Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari. They both are filmmakers I really respect and look up to and I’ve always wanted to work with. I read the script and I fell in love with it; it’s such a beautiful story told so simply,” she said.
The trailer of the film has dropped and it features Tarla, one of the most popular home chefs in India. It introduces a young Tarla as someone who is ambitious and seeking for her calling. With time, she realises her love for cooking and goes from being an amateur cook to a professional, begins teaching home cooking classes and then goes on to run her own television shows.
The trailer also gives a glimpse of Tarla's life beyond food as it features her supportive husband and kids.
Tarla Dalal, who passed away in 2013 after a brief illness at the age of 77, was also a recipient of the Padma Shri Award in 2007 and remains a household name when it comes to Indian cooking.
Huma said that Tarla Dalal’s story is an inspiring one for her. "She was the OG Master Chef, OG feminist and Padma Shri winner. She had one skillset in life, which was to cook and to make people fans of hers through her cooking. How she cooked her way out into the international arena. It’s people like Tarla Dalal who’ve laid the foundation stone for being a feminist and working woman in this country,” she said.
The upcoming film ‘Tarla’, set to release on ZEE5 Global’s OTT channel from July 7, has been called a moving and feel-good film with a dash of emotions, a sprinkle of inspiration and a garnish of flavourful entertainment. v
"I have grown up watching her cookery show with my mother and recreating many dishes from her cookbook. I have tried to embody her enthusiasm and her spirit with utmost sincerity, and I hope that I have succeeded in recreating her magical onscreen persona in Tarla the film," Huma added.
The film also stars Sharib Hashmi in a pivotal role as the chef's husband. It is directed by Piyush Gupta and produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP Movies and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari's Earthsky Pictures.
Tarla is Huma Qureshi’s first biopic role, marking a significant milestone in her career. The actor said she had to do a lot of specific preparations to accurately portray Tarla Dalal’s accent and mannerisms. She also said it was a huge responsibility portraying such a prominent figure on the big screen, talking about her interaction with Tarla Dalal’s children during filming.
“It was very intimidating seeing these grown-ups older than me and looking at me with a kind of hope and tenderness. I realised what a huge responsibility it was to play a living, breathing character from real life, especially since she’s not around. I hope I can do justice to her memory and legacy,” Huma added.
From the glimpses we have seen of her performance, it is clear that Huma had immersed herself in the life of Tarla Dalal, exploring her triumphs and tribulations, and bringing forth a portrayal that will resonate deeply with audiences.
“As an actor, I am driven by the desire to unravel the complexities of human experiences and breathe life into characters that inspire, challenge, and ignite conversations. How a regular homemaker became an extraordinary entrepreneur is what ‘Tarla’ is about.”
Touching on Huma’s meteoric rise to fame, Connected to India asked her about her early years and how she got her start in the film industry with ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. She told us that she got a lot of audition calls from Mumbai while acting in theatrical productions in Delhi. Moving to Mumbai, she started going for auditions and casting calls for commercials and made countless trips around Aram Nagar, where a lot of the city’s casting places are based. Her big break came while acting in a mobile phone commercial opposite Aamir Khan and directed by Anurag Kashyap.
“Mr Kashyap told me that he’s going to cast me in his film and that’s how ‘Gangs of Wasseypur happened,” she said. Over the past decade, Huma has grown and gone from strength-to-strength as an actress, as highlighted by her latest role.